


The Loss of Bliss

by GrumpyBox



Series: The Loss Of Bliss [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Gang Violence, Gangs, Gangsters, Gen, More characters in the future, Other, Rating May Change, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 22:00:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13017024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyBox/pseuds/GrumpyBox
Summary: The Autobots were used to their humans. Jack, Rafael, and Miko, although troublesome, were all good kids that lived good lives. They had become used to the simple lives that their humans lived. No war, no pain, just...living. They had assumed all humans led peaceful lives like their friends....that was until they met Jade. Humans weren't supposed to experience pain, loss, and tragedy like Cybertronians, or maybe...their perceptions of humans were all wrong.Set in the Transformers Prime Universe, Optimus Prime and the autobots meet a young woman whose life is nothing like that of the humans they've come in contact with. What happens to the autobots when the innocence that seems to shroud human life is stripped away, and they learn about the horrors human beings are truly capable of.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this seems like a slow build. I want to use more transformers later on in the story. Right now I'm just writing as I go. Anyway, I hope you like the character. She may not seem like someone with a lot of personality, but you're going to learn way more about her once she gets introduces to Prime and the gang.

       

         “Scrap”, Arcee muttered under her breath. It was bad enough that her earlier mission was a complete failure. Smokescreen broke cover during their raid of a nearby energon deposit and lead the Decepticons directly to their location. Optimus had only sent a small surveillance team for the mission,  _ gather intel then comm base if the deposit is worth mining _ , he had said. As if it was that easy with Smokescreen around. The newbie was still trigger happy, and the moment Bumblebee had spotted a ‘con Smokescreen had already fired twelve rounds. They were completely outnumbered. There were fifty vehicons and only three of them. By the time they got out of the cave, Starscream and a new batch of vehicons were waiting for them. Bumblebee had taken a bad hit to the knee and Smokescreen was so panicked he could barely send the proper coordinates to base. And….he didn’t send the proper coordinates. The coordinates he sent to Ratchet were 15 kilometers above them. The moment Starscream saw their groundbridge he took off towards it and ordered the vehicons to ensure the autobots didn’t get the energon, _ by any means necessary _ . The vehicons translated that to, _ let’s blow up the cave _ ! They had to transform into their vehicle modes to escape the catastrophe that had ensued. No!  As if that wasn’t bad enough, when they shot down Starscream he crash landed on some human’s property. From afar the property seemed vacated, honestly who would have wanted to live in the deserted outskirts of Jasper,Nevada. Most of the residents lived within a city grid like Jack, Rafael, and Miko. No, this resident just  _ had _ to live in the middle of nowhere and  _ had _ to be home when Starscream crashed landed next to their house. Arcee opened up her comm-link and braced herself for the bad news she was about to deliver. <<Optimus>>, she sighed,<<we have a problem….>>

 

 

**____________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

 

 

 

            Starscream awoke from the crash completely paralyzed. His central processor had sent all of the events surrounding his crash to volatile memory so he was unable to determine how he even got into this predicament. Starscream scanned over his internal systems to asses the damage. Sadly, his processing abilities were delayed due to low energon readings, and the damage he was able to see was more than he had anticipated. His internal systems were corrupted, a major fuel line was severed, and his t-cog had malfunctioned and was unable to transform. To make matters worse, there was a strange burning sensation that Starscream just couldn’t shake. “Well Megatron isn’t going to be pleased. He’s probably going to punish me for crashing, as if I could possibly control whether or not I would crash today. He’ll probably berate me on how a proper Second in Command should be more cognisant of his surroundings, pontificating about his own superior senses and strategic abilities. ‘I, Lord Megatron-leader of the Decepticon empire, would never crash land. I thought seekers were supposed to have excellent flight capabilities, you have failed your kind and must pay for your insolence!’. “

             “Wow, sounds like your boss sucks.”

             If Starscream weren’t paralyzed, his protoform would have leapt out of his armor. He was under the impression that he had crashed in some… actually he didn’t even look at his surroundings when he regained consciousness. He performed a quick visual scan of his surroundings and was surprised to see he was in an airplane hangar.

             “Well don’t get all quiet on me. I tried to check your cockpit but it was jammed shut. I thought you had burned up in there.”

_              Burned up?  _ Starscream forced another scan of his internal diagnostics and realized one of his thrust reversers had caught fire and his cooling systems had offlined causing the fire to spread to his subsonics and dangerously close to his fuel tank.  _ So THAT was the burning sensation _ .“ I’m surprised I didn’t crash outside.”

             “Oh you did!” Starscream still couldn’t place where exactly the voice was coming from. “I saw you crash and hauled you into my plane hangar. The damage is pretty bad,” suddenly a human female appeared from underneath him. “But I’m a good mechanic.”

_              Scrap!  _ As if his situation couldn’t get any worse, now Starscream was at the mercy of some human!  _ How did she even get under me? I must still be numb from the crash.  _ Weighing his options, Starscream decided it was best to play along with the human and keep her believing he was another human pilot who had crashed. “I’ll have your plane fixed up in no time. I’ve already fixed your air intakes, your bypass ducts, and the diffuser. I’m working on your combustor and I’m reinforcing your fuel tank right now.  I saved all of the exterior stuff for last. I figured it wasn’t as important as the interior damage.”  _ Well at least the human has some common sense _ . “So who are you?” she asked calmly.” Do you work at the base a couple miles north?”  _ Right. This human thinks I’m another fleshbag. I have to come up with a good cover story. _

            “Uhh. I’m a commander there. Yes?”  _ Slag. _ He really didn’t sound as confident as he had hoped, the crash must have interfered with his lying abilities. “I was performing some basic maneuvers with some soldiers and I--well I’m not sure of what went wrong. I don’t remember.”

            “Hhmph.” The young woman was uncomfortably silent as she worked on Starscream. Suddenly, she appeared again in front of his cockpit with a serious look on her face. The young woman looked much younger than Starscream had first assessed. She looked older than the humans the autobot had for pets, but nowhere near as old as that- what was his name again- Fowler? She had long black hair that was tied back messily in a bun. Her skin was dark like Fowler’s but her eyes were a vibrant green. She looked...tired for someone so young. She was in workers clothes and was covered in grease, and her hands were wound up in bandages.  _ Peculiar? _ “From the damage I assessed,” she batted away an invisible nat as she spoke,” one of your cadets thought it would be a funny prank to fire at you and introduce you to the man upstairs.” She hopped off of his cockpit with a  _ thud _ and sauntered over to a desk in the corner of the hangar. She mused through a couple of drawers for a bit until she finally pulled out a vile full of purple liquid. She walked casually back over to Starscream with an unreadable expression and held up the vile.  _ Energon. _ “I found this stuff running through your fuel lines and couldn’t help but wonder what kind of  _ wacky _ government experiment you were. Gasoline isn’t purple, and normal planes don’t have photo-thermal-reactors or whatever you call that glowing orb inside of them. So I’m going to give you one last chance to fess up and tell me who you are and why you were shot down.”

             <<Starscream, do you read me?>>

  
             Starscream’s comm-link came online and he was met with the irate voice of his leader. 

             <<I  _ kzzzt _ read you _ kzzzt _ Lord Megatron. >>

             “I’m waiting for an answer.” The young woman was now very irritated and tapping her foot. 

             <<Where are you Starscream?>>

             <<I’m in an airplane  _ kzzxt _ hangar with some human.  _ krrrzzzt _ I crashed.>>

             <<What is your location?>>

             What was his location? “I’m not going to fix anything else unless you start answering my questions?” The human was now beginning to climb up to his cockpit again and peered into his cockpit.  _ Silly human. _ Cybertronians had the ability to tint their windows so that humans--like her-- could not peer inside of their vehicle modes. 

             “I need my location. You tell me where I am and then we’ll talk.”

            “Why do you need your location?”

             “The minute you give me my location I’ll answer all of your questions.”

            <<I’m waiting Starscream.>>

            << _ krrrzzzt _ Working on it.>>

           The young woman looked stoically at Starscream. It seemed like an eternity before she finally answered, “Fine”. She pulled out her phone, a make and model he had never seen other humans use, and stared at a digital compass.  _ Odd _ . “You are exactly 36.8 degrees North and 114.1 degrees West. Now are you going to tell me who you are?” Starscream whipped open his cockpit causing the young woman to tumble inside. “Hey, watch it… there’s no one inside! What’s going on here?” 

           <<I am  _ krrzzt  _ sending you my  _ krrztt _ coordinates now.>>

          <<Coordinates received, Megatron out.>>

          “What are you? What’s going on?” The human was squirming around inside Starscream’s cockpit and banging on the glass.  _ As if that was going to get her out _ .

          “I said I would answer your questions,  _ puny human _ , and I will. My name is Starscream and if you don’t sit down and shut up Lord Megatron will catch you and  _ kill _ you. He would have killed you if he saw you in the hangar upon his arrival, but I have graciously allowed you inside my cockpit. Consider it payment for all the damage you were able to repair.”

          The young woman was silent and sat down cautiously in the pilot’s seat. “Thank you,” she whispered after a few minutes. Starscream didn’t expect her to thank him.  He actually had expected her to continue fighting, he certainly would have if he were in her predicament. Starscream had expected her to remain frightened and scared, but this human was now sitting perfectly still with the same stoic expression she had shown him earlier. This human truly was strange. Starscream was jolted out of his thoughts when a bright green portal appeared in front of him. Megatron stepped out first, his heavy footing rattling the walls of the hangar, followed by Soundwave and Knockout. The latter looked much too pleased with himself.

          “Tsk tsk, look what you’ve done to yourself Screamer,” the red aston martin cooed. “You’ve really let yourself g-AAAACCK!!!!” Knockout was interrupted by a stray bullet scraping away at his paint job. Everyone in the room looked towards the source of the bullet, or at least everyone who could look. Smokescreen stood at the opening of the hangar, blasters and dentae bared.

          “Soundwave, Knockout. Take Starscream back to the Nemesis. I will deal with Prime’s unruly Autobots.” Megatron’s fusion cannon onlined with a loud whirr as he made his way towards Smokescreen. The young mech, unnerved by the eminent danger that stood before him, charged towards the ex-gladiator. Megatron batted his arm carelessly against the young mech’s helm, knocking him off of his pedes. “Foolish little autobot.” Megatron raised his cannon level to Smokescreen’s spark, but then lowered it to his side. “No little autobot. I will teach you a lesson that you and your pathetic autobot friends will never forget, and I want to be alive when I teach it.”

 

 

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


 

 

           “What is your status Arcee,” Optimus Prime walked through the groundbridge swiftly, battle mask up and one servo already transformed into a blaster.

           “The human used some kind of tow to get Starscream into their plane hangar. Bee was going to go down and get a better view of the situation but…..” 

           “Vrr gee clk zz,” Bee chirped tiredly. The Prime nodded understandingly. He could see that Smokescreen’s antics were even tiring Bumblebee out.

           “I will deal with Smokescreen later. Right now, our highest priority is ensuring the safety of the human that is currently tending to Starscream. If he is repaired, I doubt he will return the kindness that was shown to him. Has Smokescreen reported back to either one of you?” Arcee and Bee looked at each other and then stared at Prime as if to say,  _ what do you think _ . Optimus sighed, “ I know Smokescreen can be difficult at times, but we must all remember that-”

           “I know Prime,” Arcee cut in, “ we were young once too. But he’s practically the same age as Bumblebee, heck, Bee might actually be younger than him!” Bumblebee chirped to confirm Arcee’s suspicions. “He doesn’t follow orders, he doesn’t pay attention during missions, he leaps and fires before actually formulating a plan, he-” Prime rested a heavy servo on Arcee’s shoulder. He was tired just like the rest of them, Arcee could tell, but he did everything to keep his emotions in check and maintain peace among them. Arcee looked down, feeling guilty for the outburst.

          “He will learn someday Arcee. We must be patient  with Smokescreen and -”

          << _ kzzrrt kzxrrt  _ h-help-p _ kzzrrrt _ >>

          “Smokescreen!” Arcee and Optimus yelled his name in unisom. Bumblebee ran away from the two towards the clearing near the plane hangar. He scanned the hangar and found a weak spark signature coming from it. He ran to the mouth of the hangar, not caring if anyone saw him outside of his vehicle mode, and stood frozen in fear. “What’s wrong Bee?” It took longer for Arcee and Optimus to reach him. Arcee followed Bumblebee’s gaze and fell limp to her knees, servos clamped tight against her intakes. Optimus walked past them and slowly made his way towards Smokescreen’s massacred figure. The floor was covered in Smokescreen’s innermost energon, his spark was fully exposed and ripped of its casing. His arm was dislocated at the rotator cuff, and one of his hip joints was completely removed. Most of his faceplates were missing, and half of his helm was removed leaving his core processor exposed. 

          << _ kzzrrt kzxrrt  _ h-help-p _ kzzrrrt _ >>

          “It’s ok Smokescreen. I’m here.” Optimus tried to conceal the anger boiling inside of him, but even Arcee could hear the rage seething through his voice. 

          <<Ratchet, we need a groundbridge immediately. Prepare the med-bay.>>

 

 

 

**____________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

  
  


 

 

           Starscream really hadn’t thought this through. How was he supposed to explain the human in his cockpit to Knockout. The red medic always got squeamish around the little fleshbags,  _ too many squishy parts _ , he had always said. To make matters worse, Soundwave had refused to leave the med-bay after Starscream’s alt-mode was placed on the large berth. If Starscream were the sentimental type, he would have said that Soundwave was actually  _ concerned _ about his well-being. But then again, who knew what the silent faceless mech was thinking.  _ He’s probably waiting here until Lord Megatron returns. _ “Well that’s strange.” Starscream was jostled out of his thoughts by the medics remark. “Screamer, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that someone had already repaired you, or at least most of you. There’s no way these parts could have remained intact after the autobots shot you down!”  _ So that’s how I crashed.  _ “And I know that Prime is tender-hearted, but I doubt he’d have Ratchet fix you up. I don’t even think the ‘bots have spare parts fliers.” Starscream was about to respond when a light tapping against his cockpit window stalled him and gained Knockout’s full attention.  _ Scrap this fleshbag. _ “Starscream?” Knockout drawled out in an incredulous tone.

            “Umm, let’s just say I had a little…..assistance after my crash.” Starscream slowly opened up his cockpit, revealing the surprisingly calm human that sat inside. 

           “What in the PIT!!!” Knockout’s cry got Soundwave’s attention and he stalked over to inspect the seeker. Soundwave must have been really shocked by the human because he began to interrogate Starscream.

           [[Query: What is the human doing in your cockpit?]]

           “Oh, so you do talk,” Starscream cooed amusedly. Soundwave did not share the same sentiment.

           [[Query: What is the human doing in your cockpit?]]

           “Fine. She helped fix me up after the crash,” Starscream sighed. It was best to practice his explanation on Soundwave before having to explain the situation to Megatron.

           [[Answer seems illogical. Soundwave restate question. Query: Why is human in Starscream’s cockpit?]]

           “I thought Megatron would kill her if he saw her in the hangar, so I allowed her inside of my cockpit. I wanted to repay her for fixing me.”

           [[Soundwave understand.]]

_            Well that’s a relief. At least the silent creep has a spark. _

           [[Query: Starscream thought Nemesis was safer because….]]

_            Slaggit! I really didn’t think this through. _ Starscream had hoped he could keep the young woman secret until he had the opportunity to return her home, but he really hadn’t considered the possibility of Megatron or one of the Vehicons finding her.

           “I can handle myself you know.” All eyes turned to the young woman in Starscream’s cockpit. “I’m not trying to sound pretentious or anything, and I’m not saying I can fight off a giant robot either. I mean… I can explain myself to your boss if you need me to.” Knockout immediately burst into a fit of laughter.

           “Ha! Are you crazy? Do you think you can just walk up to Megatron an-”

           [[ Soundwave approves.]]

           “You what!?!” 

           [[Soundwave approves. Small human may speak to Megatron.]]

           Starscream was just as dumbfounded as Knockout.  Soundwave was too loyal to Megatron and his cause to allow a fleshbag to speak to their leader. As Soundwave extended his servo to the human, Starscream instinctively shut his cockpit.

          “No!” he growled.  It had to be some ploy to destroy the human. He wasn’t even permitted the dignity to repay someone else’s kindness.

          [[Not a ploy. Soundwave is genuine.]]

_           Scrap. _ He forgot the mech was a telepath. 

          [[ Starscream trust Soundwave. No harm will come to human.]]

          Slowly, Starscream opened up his cockpit for Soundwave.  Soundwave, once again, reached into the cockpit for the human.

          [[Query: What is your designation?]]

          “My name is Jade,” the young woman said as she stepped into the palm of Soundwave’s servo. “What’s your ‘designation’?”

          [[Designation: Soundwave. Designation of leader: Lord Megatron.]]

          As if on cue, the leader of the Decepticons commed Soundwave for a groundbridge back to base. As Megatron walked through the portal, he was surprised to find that he had been bridged directly into the medbay rather than the observation deck. His surprise turned to disgust when he saw the human standing in Soundwave’s servo.

         “Care to explain the abomination that is standing in your servo, Soundwave?” Megatron stood in front of his TIC with his arms folded tightly across his chasis.

         “My name is Jade Lord Megatron. I’m the human that repaired Starscream after he was shot down by the autobots.” Starscream couldn’t help but be impressed by how the human carried herself. She had caught onto their earlier conversation and retained the information fairly quickly. She stood tall in Soundwave’s servo with her shoulders rolled back and her hands relaxed at her sides. Starscream couldn’t help but think her stance looked like that of the royalty he had seen depicted on the human history channels.  _ Or maybe like a soldier? _ Megatron had obviously noticed the solidity of her stance and altered his tone of voice.

         “I see,” the warlord scratched at his chin. “Tell me,  _ Jade _ , what reason do you have that I should not kill you but instead spare your life?”

         “None my lord.” 

         Everyone in the room froze. Megatron was taken aback by the human’s strange response. Starscream would have face-palmed if he were not still stuck in vehicle mode.  _ Does she have no regard for her life? _

         “You are in the position of power over me,” Jade continued cooly,” It is only by your grace that I stand before you. I simply ask that I be granted the opportunity to complete Starscream’s repairs. I don’t like leaving jobs half done.” 

         The ex-gladiator was silent for a moment, contemplating. The human had done an excellent job at coaxing his ego. Finally, he let out a sigh and looked over to where Starscream was on the medical berth.

         “Very well. I will permit you to complete Starscream’s repairs. After I have inspected your work, then I will decide whether or not I will spare your life.” Megatron turned on his heels and was about to march out of doors of the medbay when Knockout, who had previously been too bewildered by the experience to speak, rushed in front of the warlord.

         “B-but my lord Megatron,” he protested, “that fleshbag doesn’t know the first thing about Cybertronian anatomy!”

         [[Correction. Human well equipped to repair Starscream.]] Soundwave quickly replayed the audio of Knockout’s earlier remarks regarding Starscream’s repairs. The red medic, somewhat deflated, continued to protest.

         “B-but there are parts of the Cybertronian anatomy that the human knows nothing about. Take t-the the spark! O-or the transformation cog! The little fleshbag won’t know how to repair damage to either of those things!”

         “Very well Knockout. Since you care  _ so  _ deeply about Starscream’s recovery,  _ you _ can be the human’s  _ assistant _ .”

         “Thank you my lord. I’m glad you’ve…..her WHAT!” Knockout was about to protest further, but Megatron had already left the room.

         “Well well well my little assistant,” Soundwave set Jade down on the berth next to Starscream and proceeded out of the room. He didn’t want to bear witness to the argument that was bound to ensue between the human and the medic. Jade a mischievous glint in her vibrant green eyes, warning that it would be coming soon.

         “Watch it meat sack! I’m not your assistant.”

         “Really? I think your boss said otherwise. I’m going to need some tools to finish these repairs.”

         “Sorry fleshie, but I don’t have tools in your size.”

         “I guess then we’ll have to got back to my hangar and get them.”

         “Ha!,” Knockout looked down at the human in disbelief. “What makes you think I’m going to drive you back to your hangar?” Knockout turned away from Jade and began searching for some tools. He returned with a handful of scalpels, medical lasers, dilators, and retractors. He looked at the young woman and found that she once again had a mischievous glint in her eyes. And she was smiling.

         “When’s the last time you had yourself waxed Knockout?”


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team learns of Smokescreen's condition. Optimus struggles to cope with the pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still building up to where Jade meets the Autobots, and don't worry. Smokey will get better

     Optimus sat on the canyon’s edge in the light of the dying sun. He let his armor get washed in the embers of the sun’s golden rays and warmed his plating in the sun’s final glow. He used to do this after hard battles. When the war was at his peak and soldiers would die daily in the thousands, he’d find a place where the sun shined down the most and let its light shroud his weary spark. A friend had once told him that the sun had healing powers, it could mend a broken spark and numb the pain of an aching soul. Optimus never believed her, but when life was too much to bear he’d step out into the sunlight and pray that the pain would go.

     “Prime.”

     The husky voice startled Optimus and he slowly turned to greet the wrecker’s gaze. Wheeljack slowly approached the Prime and eased onto the edge next to him. A slight frown graced the wrecker’s usually chipper face as he looked out at the receding sun. 

      “I know this is hard for you. It always is. We’ve lost so many and Smokescreen is so young. What Megatron did to Smokescreen is as cruel as what he did to Bumblebee. But don’t worry Prime, Smokey will be alright. He’s a fighter and -”

     Wheeljack’s voice trailed off with the final embers of the sun. _ Smokescreen’s massacred figure lay on the floor. _ Optimus tried to focus on the wrecker’s words, but they were drowning in a sea of his own memories.  _ The floor was covered in Smokescreen’s innermost energon, his spark was fully exposed and ripped of its casing. _ The world was growing dark around them as Wheeljack continues to talk.  _ His arm was dislocated at the rotator cuff.  _ He was trying to comfort him, Optimus Prime knew that. _ One of his hip joints was completely removed. _ But despite Wheeljack’s efforts, nothing could ease the Prime’s pain. Just like the sun, Wheeljack’s words vanished leaving nothing but the darkness of night to surround him.  _ Most of his faceplates were missing. _

 

     When Optimus returned inside of the base, he was greeted by the worried faces of his human allies. Rafael was sitting on Bumblebee’s shoulder blade, the young scout chirped in an effort to comfort his human friend. Jack was seated in the couch near the base’s monitor. Typically, Ratchet would be at the post monitoring any fluctuations in energy signatures, but since he was occupied in surgery, Arcee was manning the ground-bridge. Jack and Arcee shared the same bitter expression. Miko was pacing frantically around Bulkhead’s pedes, much to Ultra Magnus’ annoyance, and constantly tried to peek into Ratchet’s surgical room only to be hauled back into the main room by Bulkhead. Optimus pitied the children. There was no way they could comprehend the pain that Smokescreen was experiencing, nor had they experienced such cruelty in their lifetime. They knew nothing of war and the evils it wrought, it must have been devastating for them to see their friend in this way. He tried to delete the look of terror in their eyes when they first brought Smokescreen in from his memory. They had just been let out of school when Ratchet had received the call concerning Smokescreen. He was too unstable to be brought into the base immediately, so Ratchet had to come into the hangar and stabilize him as best as he could. Even the patchwork that Ratchet had done wasn’t enough to improve Smokescreen’s appearance. Rafael almost fainted when Smokescreen was finally brought through the ground-bridge, Miko cried. Jack had stormed off to a corner, hiding his grief, and cursed the name of Megatron as loudly as he could.

     Ratchet had been in surgery for 6 hours when straight before he finally entered the main room. The air was dense and all eyes followed the medic as he slowly made his way to a large crate and plopped down with a  _ thud _ . He exhaled deeply and didn’t raise his optics. 

     “The patient is stable,” he finally ex-vented.

     A wave of relief passed through the room and Miko audibly sighed in relief.

     “Before anyone asks, Miko, Smokescreen cannot receive any visitors and he needs to be left alone until I determine him to be in proper functioning condition. Smokescreen will recover, however, it is uncertain of how good a recovery it will be. His core processor wasn’t damaged but his spark was fully exposed.”

      Optimus unconsciously shuddered at the reminder and Ratchet quietly noted it.

      “We need to be patient with him and remind him to be patient with himself. Smokescreen is a jumpy guy and gets excited easily. He’ll push himself even when he isn’t ready and that could negatively affect his recovery. I need all of you to work with me to help him recover. Can I trust you?”

      The group affirmed what Ratchet had already expected. He nodded at them, thanking them for their compliance, and returned to his patient. 

      “We’re gonna kick bucket head’s but right?” Miko was the first to speak up. She had regained her energetic demeanor after the medic had stated Smokescreen would recover. “ We oughta storm the Decepticon ship and take Mega-dork down. Wrecker style!” Miko threw up two rocker symbols and began to fight the air, demonstrating how she would take down the ex-gladiator. A squabble between her and the two other humans immediately ensued. Jack was quick to point out the Miko couldn’t just punch a warlord, Raf also vocalized his concerns. It took Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Bulkhead physically pulling the humans apart to end the disagreement. Optimus shook his head and made his way towards his berthroom. Humans truly did not know pain. They were too simple and kind.


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jade finishes Starscream's repairs and finally meets the autobots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update. I've been finishing up another fic of mine called Subconcious Unleashed (y'all should check it out). anyway Jade finally meets the autobots (kind of) and we get a glimpse into her past. I think the next chapter will delve deeper into her past and will probably be a tear-jerker so be prepared.

“Is it working now,” Jade said as she screwed the last panel shut on Starscream.

“Let me check.” Starscream leapt off of the medical berth and transformed a few times to test his tcog. After the fifth transformation, he beamed down in the human.  “Excellent work fleshling.”

 

“Thanks but my name is Jade,” she replied depositing the last of her tools into her toolbox. Jade let out a deep sigh as she looked down on her overalls and hands. She was covered in grease, energon, and some other liquid she couldn’t quite figure out. Jade had spent the past seven hours repairing Starscream with Knockout and she was in desperate need of a bath. “So now that this is all done I guess I can-”

 

“Ah ah ah little meat sack,” Knockout walked over from the wall he had been leaning against. Starscream and Jade had to cover their eyes as blinding light reflected off of Knockout’s freshly waxed armour. “Megatron hasn’t approved of Starscream’s….swift recovery yet.” Knockout eyed Starscream knowingly and the seeker couldn’t help but sigh audibly. He knew Megatron would never let the human live even if she was capable of repairing him. Organics were below mechs. At least that’s what Megatron believed….

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Arcee had spent all morning in the training room beating the living scrap metal out of every punching bag in sight. “First he ruins our mission,” Arcee dealt an upper-cut to the punching bag, “ then he puts a human in danger”, then a side-hook,” and now he’s unconscious in the med-bay and all I want to do is hear his smug little voice…”, Arcee trailed off into a whimper. Bumblebee rushed from the wall he had been leaning against to Arcee’s side. The warrior never let her guard slip, but the near loss of the rookie Autobot was a lot for even her to handle. 

 

[[It’s ok Arcee, Smokescreen is supposed to recover soon. Hey, why don’t we go talk to Ratchet and see if he’ll let us see Smokescreen.]] The femme complied and regained her composure. Bumblebee and Arcee entered the main room and were surprised to see the children were still at base. It was almost 10 o’clock so their parents would certainly be worried. Arcee walked over to Jack, about to inquire when the boy raised his hand. 

 

“It’s ok Arcee, I already called my mom. It’s the weekend so we can stay the night. Miko’s exchange parents and Raf’s mom and dad think they’re staying over at my house. My mom might drive by early tomorrow morning to check on us.” It was times like these that Arcee was truly thankful for June Darby. Despite how they butted heads upon their first meeting, Arcee had warmed up to June and vice versa. Oftentimes to two would call one another to talk about Jack, much to the boy’s displeasure. Arcee quickly made her way towards Optimus, who was manning the command center in Ratchet’s stead. 

 

“Hey Optimus,” the motorcycle greeted shyly. She hated getting emotional in front of the semi. Optimus was always able to pick up on her bad moods, and he always had a “talk” ready in case he believed anyone needed encouragement. Despite how much Arcee typically enjoyed the Prime’s talks, all she wanted was to ensure the wellbeing of her friend. “Is Ratchet still in the medbay? I wanted to see if I could get a minute or two with Smokescreen, y’know, just to make sure he’s alright.”

 

“Ratchet is indeed still in the medbay, but he still has not permitted any vistors for quite some time. I know you want to see Smokescreen, we all are concerned about his current state, however we have some other pressing matters to attend to.”

 

Arcee was perplexed for a moment. What could possibly be as important as Smokescreen right now? Optimus caught the confused look of the femme and explained further.

 

“The whole purpose of Smokescreen inspecting that hangar was to ensure the-”

 

“SLAGGIT WE FORGOT THE HUMAN!” 

 

“Precisely.”

 

Arcee had to put her cooling fans into overdrive in order to contain the rage boiling inside of her. This entire day had been a failure. From the energon mine, to capturing Starscream, to Smokescreen, now a human.

 

“I have reason to believe that the human may have been taken captive by Megatron and is currently aboard his ship.”

 

“Urrrgh. Are you really going to bargain with that horrible excuse for a scrap heap after what he did to Smokescreen?”

 

“No. We are going to attack the Nemesis head on.”

 

Head on? Arcee couldn’t believe the thought had even crossed the Prime’s processor. Even with the full team a head on fight aboard the Nemesis was a death wish, all for the sake of one human. The same human who happened to be home when Starscream crashed. The same human that towed Starscream into their hangar. The same human that Smokescreen tried to save and was nearly murdered by Megatron.

“Is the human really worth it?” Arcee whispered under her breath.

 

The remark did not go unnoticed by the Prime and he placed a reassuring servo on her shoulder plate. “If we let Megatron have this human, then he truly did win today.” Arcee head shot up and she looked at Optimus with blazing optics.

 

“Then what are we waiting for. Let’s beat the slagger to the pit.”

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Good work fleshling,” Megatron purred. His digits lazily traced the edges of Starscream’s wings, much to his Second’s discomfort. Megatron stopped abruptly and looked down at the human. Jade was standing tall - or at least as tall as she could in the face of giant alien robots- on the medical berth. Knockout stood behind her with his arms folded across his chest plate. He and Starscream exchanged knowing looks. Their lord Megatron was known for many things, but mercy was not one of them. Megatron inspected Starscream one last before leering dangerously over Jade. 

 

“What is it that you had said earlier? That ‘I was in the position of power over you’ and that ‘it was only by my grace that you could stand before me?” the warlord  growled venomously. “You have done well human in repairing my second in command, but I see no reason to set you free. In fact,” he had begun walking towards the medbays doors and peered back at Jade with a cruel smile. “I believe you can still be of use to us.” Megatron pressed the commands for the medbay door and stepped aside. A bulky figure slowly entered the room. Jade could no longer maintain her stoic composure when she stared into the giant red optic of the massive figure. Shockwave picked up the girl with the tips of his digits and held her close to his optics. The lens began to expand and contract as he inspected her closer.

 

“I believe I can make use of this….primitive lifeform.” Shockwave decided and tossed Jade back onto the med-berth. “I will need a -” Shockwave was cut off by the blaring of the Nemesis alarms.

 

<<Intruders detected. Intruders detected. All bots report to their designated stations.>>

 

“I believe we will have to continue our conversation later,” Megatron jested at Jade. “Knockout, make sure our….guest is comfortable.” Megatron stormed out of the medbay with Shockwave following close behind.

 

“We can’t let Shockwave experiment on her.” Starscream screeched forcing Knockout and Jade to cover their ears. 

 

“Isn’t your boss going to notice if I go missing?” Jade replied.

 

“Are you stupid?” Knockout screamed as he turned his attention to Jade. “Do you actually want to stay here and be experimented on by Shockwave. Shockwave! You’ll be dead before he even _ begins _ the experiment!”

 

“I’m standing right here, there’s no need to shout. It’s just that….I understand how gangs work.”

 

“How  _ what _ work?” Starscream was fluttering his wings in irritation. This human was truly bewildering. Everything she did perplexed and astounded him. He couldn’t tell if she was unnaturally brave, or abnormally foolish.

 

“Gangs. Isn’t that what this is? Megatron is the boss, you and soundwave are two hardcores, and the medic is a long term associate. I know how gangs work, if your boss finds out you helped me then he’ll undo all the repairs I made and more.”

 

Knockout and Starscream looked down at the human in disbelief. Her understanding of the Decpeticon dynamic was….uncanny. They were in for some serious punishment if they helped the human escape, yet Starscream felt as if he owed some debt of gratitude to the organic. Stasrcream was about to respond to the human when blaster fire began to rain down on them. Knockout ducked behind a medical cabinet to avoid the shots, and Starscream onlined his blasters and began to fire back blindly. In the heat of the moment, neither of them noticed Bumblebee scoop Jade up in his servos and disappear back into the ventilation shaft of the Nemesis. [[ I’ve got her guys. We can bridge back to base.]]

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Jade was many things. She was resourceful, level-headed, skilled in mechanics, street-smart and book-smart. However, patience was a skill that often alluded her, and the moment she stepped into the Autobot base it was already wearing thin due to the incessant interrogations of a particular pink-haired girl.

 

“So are you friends with the cons or did they try to kill you? Which one do you hate the most? I hate megatron ‘cause he totally just trashed one of my friends but he’s totally gonna pay for it soon. Do you like music?  Do you like heavy metal? Do they play music on the Nemesis? Did you see Megatron? Does Soundwave ever talk or was he silent around you to? Why is your face twitching like that? Are you sick or somethin’?”

 

“Enough!” Jade finally burst. She began pacing the room back and forth with such a vengeance she nearly bore a trench into the ground. She looked across the room at the stunned faces of the Autobots. They thought the human would be thrilled that she had been rescued, but ever since her arrival she didn’t even try to thank them, much to Arcee’s annoyance. She finally locked eyes with Ultra Magnus and marched over to the mech. “Are you the leader of this operation?” Ultra Magnus raised a questioning optic ridge. He was surprised by the commanding nature in her tone. He too wa tiring of Miko’s questioning and had simply assumed all humans enjoyed interrogating each other in that manner. Apparently he was wrong. 

 

“No I am not the leader of this operation,” he replied after some time.

 

“I would like to speak to your leader.” Jade tried her best not to tap her foot but Miko had been successful in riling her up.

 

“I’m sorry but our leader is currently trying to deal with the matter of your presence within our base. As you may have guessed we are not of your world.”

 

“Yes, I guessed.” Miko had really gotten on Jade’s nerves.

 

“Right. And our presence on your planet is something we have tried to conceal.”

 

“Tried and failed based on the kids running around your base.”

 

“Hey,” Jack shouted from across the room. He had been seated in the couch with Raf but had started walking over to Jade when she began talking to Ultra Magnus. “We aren’t kids. I’m  _ sixteen  _ years old.”

 

“Oh wow. You’re practically ancient.”

 

“A little ‘thank you’ would suffice,” Miko interjected. “We just saved you from the Decepticons. Megatron totally would have crushed you.”

 

“Ummm no. You didn’t save me from Megatron at all. Your yellow friend, I think his name was Bumblebee, rescued me from the Nemesis. You were sitting on that couch watching cartoons like a bunch of kids.”

 

“We should have left you on the Nemesis.” Miko yelled and ran back to the couch. She plopped down angrily next to Rafael.

 

“You know, you could try to be a little more grateful for us, Bumblebee, helping you.” Jack softened his voice and Jade could see he was truly trying to reach out to her.

 

“I’m sorry. I guess I’m not used to people being so….caring. Thank you Jack.”

 

“I understand, it’s been a long day and you must be frightened. Why don’t you sit down for a little while. Optimus is just trying to explain why you’re here to Agent Fowler so he’ll be a while.” Jade sighed and weighed her options. She didn’t like being crammed into such a “friendly” environment. It wasn’t like what she was used to. Ever since she arrived the Autobots were all over her, trying to make sure she was ok and taken care of. She wasn’t used to that sort of treatment at all. The hostility of the Nemesis suited her. She was used to people being cruel and cutthroat. Fending for herself was something she had done her entire life. It was a dog eat dog world, survival was based on power. Those with power could live another day, those without…..

 

“It’s ok Jade.” A small hand had taken hold of her’s. She looked down at Raf as he began to lead her towards the couch. “No one will hurt you here.”


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn of Jade's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i personally don't like having my transformers fics so human heavy, but i needed you to understand the character. i like a good balance in human to transformer interactions in my fics so i'm sorry if this is really human centric. the next chapter may end up being human heavy too but i regain balance soon.
> 
>  
> 
> also i love hearing your thoughts, feel free to comment below

 

“What do you _ mean _ you don’t listen to heavy metal?” Miko screamed as she clutched onto her electric guitar. Miko had been “shredding” on her guitar for almost a full hour before Jade finally pulled the plug on her amplifier. Miko and Bulkhead had been practicing to serenade Smokescreen once he had fully recovered. Arcee, Wheeljack, and Ultra Magnus immediately offered themselves up for surveillance duty.

 

“I listen to a lot of music Miko, but what you’re doing is an assault on my eardrums,” Jade replied stoically.

 

“Finally, someone who gets me,” Ratchet couldn’t help but chime in. He was cast angry glares from Miko and her guardian Bulkhead. “WHAT, it’s true.”

 

“If you can’t handle the music then get out of the base” Miko yelled defiantly.

 

“I’d love to but you’re friends are holding me captive against my will.”

 

“Hey hey hey,” Bulkhead interjected. “No one is holding you captive Jade, you’re free to go wherever you’d like. The only reason why you can’t go home is because we don’t want any ‘cons kidnapping you.”

 

“As if she’d mind.” Miko snuffed. “She and ‘screamer are probably best buds. I mean, she did patch him up.”

 

“An accomplishment that still astounds my processor,” Ratchet whispered to himself.

 

“He was on fire!” Jade cried. It was often difficult for her to remain calm around Miko. She always had a way of pushing her buttons. “ I thought he was a pilot who crashed onto my landing strip. I wasn’t going to just let him die. Wouldn’t you and your friends have done the same?”

 

“Not if it was Starscream!” Miko struck a deafening cord on her electric guitar putting an end to the argument. Jade retreated to the top of the canyon for solace while Miko and Bulkhead continued their rock concert.  Optimus and Agent fowler slowly appeared in the room, neither of them looked pleased. 

 

“Are you certain Agent Fowler?” the prime asked already knowing the answer.

 

“Positive. Me and the boys back at the Pentagon have been looking through file after file trying to identify her and we haven’t found a single match. It’s like the kid doesn’t exist at all!”

Optimus hummed to himself and tapped his foot lightly. He was uncertain of what to do. Jade had been at the base for a full week and the Autobots still couldn’t figure out what to do with her. They couldn’t bring her back home because her house and hangar had been compromised by the Decepticons, and now they couldn’t find any human relatives to bring her to.  Although the Prime was happy to welcome another human into the base, it seemed as if other members of his team weren’t eager for the new edition. 

 

“What is she some kind of ghost or something?” Miko dropped her guitar and ran over to Fowler. He quickly regretted continuing the conversation in front of the girl. “What if she’s some undead spirit trying to haunt us and eat our brains.”

 

“Stop it Miko, that’s just creepy,” memories of zombie marathons began to flood Bulkhead’s processor. The gentle giant shuddered much to Miko’s amusement.

 

“It’s okay Bulk. She’ll hafta go through me first before she can eat your brain.”

 

“I assure you Miko, Jade is not a zombie,” Ratchet grunted trying to quell the girl’s imagination.

 

“Oh yeah. Well if she isn’t a zombie then why does she bind her hands up? Only zombies tie themselves up, it’s to keep their bodies from falling apart.”

 

Ratchet looked to Optimus for support. He could tell by the weariness in Optimus’ optics he had been dwelling on the girl’s situation for quite some time. It was difficult enough with Smokescreen out of commission. The young rookie was still having trouble holding a conversation, and the prime was reluctant in visiting him. Ratchet knew Prime was still trying to erase the memory of what Megatron did from his processor, everytime he looked at Smokescreen the images flooded back. 

 

“I have an idea,” Ratchet’s faceplate lit up. Optimus gave Ratchet a puzzled look. “Why don’t you and Jade go for a drive. It’ll give you some time to unwind and you’ll have a chance to get to know more about Jade.” Optimus looked over at his friend and smiled.

 

“Alright. I’ll take your advice.”

 

It was a beautiful day. The clouds hung low in the sky and drifted slowly into the great expanse of blue. They started off in fluffy cotton balls of white and would dissipate into wisps of thin smoke. Some of the wisps drifted in front of the sun and shielded birds as they soared through the air. The heat was bearable this time of year. The breeze was strong enough for Optimus to leave the windows down as they drove by. Jade moved her hand through the breeze outside of her window and hummed quietly to herself. Optimus looked at the young woman through his front view window. It seemed as if they were both enjoying the drive. 

 

“Are you comfortable?” Optimus asked. Jade shifted to look at the empty driver’s seat beside her.

 

“I suppose so. Although, it’s a little strange not having someone next to me.”

 

“I understand. I know all of this must be strange for you.” Optimus didn’t know how to begin asking her questions without her feeling like she was being interrogated. He decided to not break the mood and continued to drive in silence. After a while, Jade’s humming turned into singing.

“ _ Once upon another time, Somebody's hands who felt like mine, Turned the key and took a drive, Was free… _ .”

 

Optimus listened to the words and was mesmerized by the soothing voice.

 

“ _ Just yellow lines and tire marks, And sun-kissed skin and handlebars, And where I stood was where I was to be…. _ ”

 

“Where did you learn to sing like that?” Optimus couldn’t help but ask. He loved her voice but was surprised by it at the same time. He hadn’t expect the distant girl to get comfortable to the point of singing. Jade chuckled lightly and sunk deeper into the cushions of the seat.

 

“I never really learned. I mean….when I was little my mom would sing to me when I was scared. She stopped doing it after a while so I started singing to myself whenever I got too stressed out.”

 

“I see, are you stressed out right now?”

 

“Not really, I’m just….I didn’t grow up like this. Everyone is so nice back at base, even Miko when she’s not getting on my last nerve. I’m not used to everyone being so kind. Life was always rough for me, it still is….”

 

Optimus barely caught onto the last thing Jade said when Ratchet’s voice began blaring through the radio.

 

<<Optimus, do you read me?>>

 

“Yes, old friend, I read you loud and clear.”

 

<<Agent Fowler wants to speak to you. He thinks he finally found something.>>

 

“Understood. We’re on our way.”

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

When Optimus and Jade returned to base, Smokescreen was seated in the main room. He was still marred across the chestplate and torso, his faceplate was somewhat discolored, and his shoulder plate and hip joints showed obvious welding marks. Optimus tried his best not to shudder. Bumblebee was chirping happily to Smokescreen and trying his best to fill him in on everything he missed. Jack sat near Smokescreen’s shoulder plate while Raf danced around his pedes happily. Miko was serenading him with her favorite rock songs. 

 

“He still can’t go on missions yet. His body hasn’t reached full equilibrium,” Ratchet said as he approached the prime. “Fowler is waiting for you uptop.”

 

“Understood. It is good to see you again Smokescreen. I’m glad you’re doing better.” Optimus rested a servo on Smokescreen’s helm, mindful not to touch any new welding. Smokescreen leaned into the servo.

 

“Never better Optimus. So, who’s the new friend?” Smokescreen smiled and pointed down at Jade. She had been trailing behind the prime since they returned to base.

 

“This is the human ‘Bee was telling you about,” Rafael exclaimed and pulled Jade closer to Smokescreen. “This is the human you helped save, her name is Jade.” Smokescreen stroked his chin and began to inspect her playfully.

 

“So you’re the human that got me into all this trouble,” he joked. Jade flustered and her cheeks turned a bright pink. Miko and Jack couldn’t help but chuckle at the display. “I didn’t think I got beat up so badly for someone so small,” he continued. 

 

“I can make it up to you,” Jade replied not catching on to their humor. “I can help buff out that scar and reapply your paint job.” This caught Smokescreen, and everyone else’s, attention. 

 

“Really? You can buff this out?” Smokescreen pointed to the scar on his chestplates. Ratchet had done his best to repair the mech but he was no Knockout. When it came to cosmetic work he valued efficiency over beauty. As a field medic he was used to throwing whatever scrap was available together in order to repair bots. If he could remove a scar he would, if not then the bot had to learn to manage it. When they were still on Cybertron, Ratchet would often call patients back to his office if parts became available for him to repair them properly. Earth had limited resources, and very few of their parts could be used on Cybertronians. The Autobots had learned that if they were too severely injured in a battle then they’d have to live with whatever makeshift prosthetic Ratchet was able to build. Optimus looked between Jade and Smokescreen. When he had first met the rookie, Smokescreen was well-polished and not a single blemish was found on his frame. He wanted to see that mech again.

 

“She did repair Starscream,” Optimus said after a while. “ I believe with Ratchet’s assistance she could get you looking like your old self again.”

 

“Could she really do that?” Smokescreen looked at Optimus and Ratchet in disbelief.

 

“It would be my honor,” Jade replied with a tip of her head. “ Thank you for saving me.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

As Jade and Ratchet began the cosmetic repairs on Smokescreen, Optimus met on the canyon with Fowler.

 

“Are you positive this is accurate Agent Fowler,” Optimus reread the datapad incredulously.

 

“We’re positive Prime. The Pentagon doesn’t kid around.” Fowler had finally found a facial recognition match to Jade. Her file had been listed under a different name, Mia Garvagio. The file was scarce, but had enough to shed some light on who she was.

 

“It turns out that plane hangar was a safe haven constructed by a relative. I guess they didn’t want her going into the “family business”. No one knows where her parents are and there’s only one known living family member we could trace. It’s her grandmother. She lives somewhere in Arizona. Mia should be safe there. The ‘cons don’t know where that is, and anyone who’s looking shouldn’t be able to find her there either. Her grandmother has moved around about fifteen times and this is her longest permanent residence.”

 

Optimus sighed deeply soaking everything in. He hadn’t expected Jade’s history to be so….dark. Her father died when she was an infant, her mother was in and out of prison, she had been in at least three different foster homes until she was reported missing. She went missing sometime during high school and reappeared for her senior year. She had been in hiding since graduation. 

 

“Do you want me to take it from here?” Fowler asked.

 

“No,” Optimus closed the datapad and sub-spaced it. “ I want this to be a surprise. I’m certain her grandmother will be pleased to be reunited with her granddaughter. Seeing how difficult Jade’s life has been, I believe she will enjoy seeing her grandmother.”

 

“I hope so prime. You never know how these things will turn out.”

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

A few hours passed until Ratchet and Jade emerged from the emergency room. It was late and the sun was beginning to set over the canyons. Miko, Jack, and Raf were racing cars against Bulkhead and Bumblebee to pass the time. Jade sat down on a nearby crate and bandaged her hands. Raf leapt up and ran over to her. 

 

“How is he. Is he ok?” Rafael asked timidly. 

 

“Pfft. Ask him yourself,” Ratchet retorted. He stepped aside to reveal the rookie sportscar who was beaming from audiofin to audiofin. 

“Look at me guys,” Smokescreen slid into the room and nearly tripped over the toy cars.

 

“Eh epp epp. Be careful Smokescreen,” Ratchet cautioned, his voice leaking with irritation. “You still haven’t fully recovered. You can’t go sliding into rooms like that.”

 

“Look at me doc!”

 

“Don’t call me doc!”

 

“I look amazing!”

 

The room gasped as they looked over Smokescreen. He really did look amazing. His primary colors had been changed to blue and yellow with a shimmery metallic tint, the welds and been buffed out and smoothed, and his face-plates were once again a soft gray. Bumblebee rushed over to Jade and buzzed ecstatically. 

 

“What is he saying Raf? I still don’t understand him yet.” Jade looked down at the boy who simply smiled and shook his head.

 

“Haha. ‘Bee wants you to do him next.”

 

“I believe Bumblebee will have to wait Rafael,” Optimus’ voice boomed as he entered the room. “Jade, will you come with me please? Agent Fowler and I have somewhere to take you.”

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The bright green haze of the ground-bridge disappeared to reveal a quiet suburban street. The distant sounds of city clamour and dogs barking could be heard, and the occasional police siren echoed in the evening air. Agent Fowler sat in the driver’s seat inside Optimus Prime and nervously squeezed the steering wheel. Jade surveyed the unfamiliar street and looked up into the night sky.

 

“Where are we?” Jade asked as Optimus pulled in front of a small one story home. Agent Fowler began to unbuckle his seat belt and pulled out a small manila folder. 

 

“Optimus and I are taking you home.”

 

“What are you talking about? I don’t live here,” Jade’s eyes darted around in fear and she sank deeper into the car seat. “Where are we?”

 

“We are at your grandmother’s house,” Optimus finally interjected. Jade shot up in alarm.

 

“What! No! I can’t be here! Why did you bring me here!?!” Jade began to flail around in the seat causing Optimus to rumble his engines in discomfort. Agent Fowler tried to subdue her, but she only panicked more. “I can’t be here! I can’t-”

 

“Who’s out there!?!” The door to the small home had opened. A stout older woman stood in the yellow light of the doorway. “I’m warning you, if you don’t show yourself I’m calling the cops!” Jade sighed and slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the semi. She gently pushed the metal gate open and walked up to the doorway of the home. She held her head low and watched as her feet dragged along the cement pathway. She didn’t want to do this again. She had done this once before and she never wanted to do it again. She stopped at the front porch of the home and looked into the cold green eyes of her grandmother.

 

“This was a mistake. I didn’t want to come here. I’m sor-” The swift backhand of her grandmother sent her toppling over. Jade’s grandmother grabbed her arm and pulled her off of the ground roughly. Her nails dug into Jade’s arm, she winced as she felt blood trickle down her sleeve. 

 

“I told you never to come back here,” her grandmother growled into her ear. “I told you never to come back.”

 

“I’m sorry Maria. It was a mistake, I didn’t mean to come.” The hand gripping her arm became tighter. Maria held Jade close so that she could feel her hot breath against her face.

 

“You aren’t wanted here anymore Mia. You’ve screwed up too many times. Unless you’re here to pick up your _ trash _ -”

 

“Don’t talk about her like that!”  Jade pulled herself free from her grandmother’s grasp. “She doesn’t deserve that. It’s not her fault.”

 

“I didn’t deserve a lot of things either Mia! I didn’t deserve my only daughter going to prison! I didn’t deserve her getting into gangs and drugs! And I didn’t deserve to have my good for nothing granddaughter amount to nothing! You’re an embarrassment Mia! You’re a complete failure! You didn’t even go to college, did you even try?! Look at you Mia. You’re just like your mother. I hope your daughter doesn’t end up like you, but then again the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

 

“Enough, Maria!”Jade was cowering on the sidewalk. She felt weak and alone like she had for most of her life. She didn’t want this again. She didn’t want to keep on fighting, that’s why she moved to Nevada. She just wanted peace. “If you don’t want her I’ll take her back.”

 

“So you did come here for something,” Maria folded her arms and scowled down at her granddaughter.

 

“No, but since you keep complaining about her I’ll take her off of your hands.”

 

“As long as she keeps you from coming back, you can do whatever you want with her.” Maria turned back into the house and closed the door. Agent Fowler took the opportunity to slip out of Optimus and towards Jade.

 

“Mia what’s going on? This isn’t going according to plan.” Fowler placed a concerned hand on Jade’s shoulder, but she brushed him off.

 

“First of all, I didn’t plan ANY of this! Second, thanks a lot for coming out here after she almost beat me up!” Fowler staggered back and twiddled his fingers awkwardly.

 

“Well, I uh, didn’t want to interrupt the family reunion.”

 

Maria stepped back into the doorway and motioned for Jade to enter. Agent Fowler returned to Optimus and tapped his fingers impatiently.

 

“Agent Fowler,” Optimus began in his deep baritone voice. “I do not understand. What has happened? Why was Jade’s grandmother so angry, shouldn’t she be overjoyed to see her offspring. When Rafael talks of meeting his grandparents he never discussed them hitting him.”

 

“It’s like I said earlier Prime, ‘ You never know how these things will turn out’.”

 

Agent Fowler and Optimus waited for Jade for nearly an hour before she finally emerged from the home holding a backpack and a small child. 

 

“Jade, what is going on?” Optimus asked as she entered the semi.

 

“Congratulations Prime,” Jade exclaimed sarcastically, “you’re a father.”


	5. Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> meet Jade's daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter is a little bit fluffy. i'm going to pick up the pace after this in terms of plot and character development. i'm sorry if i break your hearts along the way. i know it's going to hurt when i break your hearts, but i kind of want to turn this story into a series and something has to give in order for that to happen. so please be prepared.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Jade couldn’t help but think this as she, Optimus, Agent Fowler, and her daughter now made the journey back to base. Ratchet had ground-bridged them back to Jasper, but they were still a little ways away from the Autobot base. Apparently, Bulkhead had broken something that Ratchet had _“needed”_ so none of the Autobots could be bridged directly into the base. The long drive only intensified Jade’s fear, although she would never admit it out loud. There was no way the bots would allow her into the base with her daughter. They had been kind, or patient, enough to allow her to stay a full week but a three year old toddler was a completely different story. To make matters worse, she had no clue on how to raise a child. That was the sole reason why she asked her grandmother to keep her daughter in the first place. She didn’t  have a steady income, she moved from place to place, and -as Maria was quick to point out- she had made a lot of mistakes making her a very bad role-model. She knew that the Autobots didn’t trust her fully, there was still so much that they didn’t know about her….and she’d make sure they never did. Her train of thought ended abruptly when Agent Fowler nudged her arm.

 

“We’re here.”

 

She was so deep in thought she didn’t even realize when Optimus Prime had pulled into the base. She stepped out hesitantly, holding the still sleeping toddler a little tighter, and braced herself for what she knew was going to be a rough night.

 

“OMG is that a baby!?” Miko’s scream caused the child to stir slightly in Jade’s arms and brought everyone’s attention on Jade. Great.

 

“Shhhh,” Bulkhead warned as he stepped a little closer to his guard,” it’s recharging.”

 

“Who’s baby is it?” Raf asked with a bewildered look on his face.

 

“Did you steal it?” Miko yelped. She stared at the toddler in awe and wonder as if she’d never seen a child before.

 

“I highly doubt she’d steal a baby with Optimus around,” Jack said tiredly.

 

“This is Jade’s offspring,” Optimus said softly as he transformed. He transformed slower than normal in an attempt to not wake the toddler.

 

“Her what!” Miko could have cared less about the child waking up. “ First: babies are gross and they drool everywhere-”

 

“Eww,” Arcee shuddered with disgust.

 

“Second: I’m not cleaning up any used diapers-”

 

“Used what!?” It was Ratchet’s turn to shudder.

 

“And third: ….can I hold her please?” the pink-haired girl tried to give Jade the most innocent look she could muster.

 

Jade was surprised by how quickly the girl softened to the child. Miko tiptoed next to Jade and was aweing and cooing at the toddler, her voice at full volume the entire time. If Jade didn’t know any better it was as if she wanted the child to wake up….

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“I am losing patience Starscream!” Megatron’s deep gravelly voice echoed down the corridors of the Nemesis causing every Vehicon within a 20 foot radius of the warlord to run in the opposite direction. Starscream was cowering on the floor begging his master for mercy. He had some dents along the edges of his wings and large scrapes against his chassis. He attempted to stand up but ultimately decided that perhaps his master would show him mercy if he remained on the floor.

 

“I’m _so_ sorry my liege. Knockout and I were completely overwhelmed by the Autobots, we were defenseless.”

 

“Defenceless!” Starscream flinched and drew his arms above his helm. “I inspected you myself. You were in perfect working order after that human was done repairing you!” Megatron turned his back and walked towards the command console. He quickly typed in a set of instructions and the console flooded with satellite images and files. They were an array of photos taken of the Autobots and their human friends on several different occasions. They had files and the Facebook pages for all of the Autobot’s allies….except for Jade's. “We have been searching for this human for a week and nothing has come up. You lost our only bargaining chip with the Autobots and a competent medic, unlike a _certain_ red failure.” Knockout, who had been standing in the corner of the room throughout the exchange, shuddered at the insult. His digits lightly traced the deep scratches on his finish.

 

“B-but we have p-picked up on a lot of recent autobot activity,” Starscream attempted to compose himself behind the warlord. “Even Optimus Prime was spotted!”

 

“Oh really,” the warlord drawled out sarcastically,” and what, pray tell, was my greatest nemesis doing when you spotted him?”

 

“H-he was um….going for a leisurely drive it seemed,” Starscream replied reluctantly.

 

“Hmmmm and you didn’t think it wise to _ambush_ the Prime when he least expected it now did you?”

 

“I, uh w-well you see-” Starscream began to sputter.

 

“All I see if an incompetent fool who I’ve let ruin my plans for far too long. That is why I’ve enlisted the help of another.” The doors to the command center opened to reveal Soundwave escorting a large dark mech into the room. “I see you’ve arrived safely Shockwave.”

 

“Indeed I have Lord Megatron,” Shockwave stated with a low bow,” and I have looked into the case of your missing prisoner.”

 

“Splendid, I would expect nothing less from the greatest scientist of the Decepticon cause. Would you care share with me and those present what you have found?” Megatron said with an exaggerated gesture. Starscream had seen this charade before. Megatron knew something that he didn’t and wanted to humiliate him with the revelation. Starscream would not be humiliated.

 

Shockwave stared at Megatron with a blank unwavering gaze and nodded his helm. “I have found that the young woman you seek does not exist.”

 

“What!” Starscream lost his temper and shot up off of the floor towards the scientist. “What exactly are you implying? That I’m insane! T-that Knockout was an assistant to some ghost!? That your _lord_ conversed with a figment of his own imagination!?!”

 

Shockwave turned his helm towards the raging seeker. No emotion could be seen in his sole optic. “No, such a statement would be illogical. The girl that you seek does not exist because you made the illogical decision to believe she had given you her real name.”

 

Starscream was humiliated.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Smokescreen was once again seated in the main room of the base. He held the small toddler in the palm of his servo and rocked her gently. Normally, everyone would have advised that the excitable rookie not hold her for fear that he’d take her out for a joyride. However, he was still recovering and confined to the base granting him the opportunity to hold the fragile human. The toddler stirred in his servo and slowly began to pull herself up. She rubbed her eyes sluggishly and looked up at the giant robot with wide eyes. Smokescreen didn’t know what to do. He’d seen some humans reactions upon seeing a Cybertronian for the first time, none of them were good. He tensed up as he tried to figure out how to explain himself to the small toddler. He caught Ratchet out of the med-bay in the corner of his optic. He rushed over to the medic and placed the small toddler in his hands before he could protest. Ratchet looked around the room completely bewildered until he realized that the child had woken up for the first time since her arrival. He was too old for this. He was about the talk when the toddler cleared her throat and curtseyed dramatically.

 

“I am Princess Helena of the last realm, are you my Knight in shining armor?”

 

Ratchet’s spark melted. Correction, everyone in the room spark melted. Smokescreen couldn’t contain the look of jealousy on his faceplate.

 

“Hey, _I’m_ the one who held you first!” the young mech exclaimed. He really wasn’t supposed to get worked up during his recovery, but he couldn’t help feeling possessive over the fragile child.

 

“How many dragons have you slayed?” The girl cocked her head to the side inquisitively. She was absolutely adorable. Unlike her mother and grandmother, the little toddler had blue eyes and rich dark skin--just a shade darker than Fowler’s. Her hair was jet black and curled into a soft afro. She wore denim overalls with a striped purple shirt, a bright pink tutu, and yellow rain boots.

 

“I have slayed hundreds of dragons,” Ratchet played along with the toddler’s fantasy while Smokescreen was still trying to wrap his processor around what a dragon was, “ and I’d slay a thousand more for you my dear.”

 

“Well aren’tcha a gentlemech sunshine?” Wheeljack sauntered over the medic with a wild grin on his face. “Who knew you had a soft side?”

 

“Didn’t you know?” Arcee chimed in from where she was sitting with Jack and Bumblebee.  “Ratchet’s just a big old softie on the inside.”

 

“It isn’t proper to tease your medic Arcee,” Ultra Magnus scolded. He had been discussing military tactics with Fowler in an attempt to avoid contact with the small child. Miko’s quip about drooling and diapers had resonated in his processor. A quick internet search warned him that they were things he did not want to interact with by any means necessary.

 

“Don’t pay him any mind ‘Cee, he’s just afraid of gettin’ his servo dirty,” Wheeljack smirked at Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus looked away, not pleased with the fact that Wheeljack had found out his ~~weakness~~. Turning back to Ratchet, he playfully inspected the little girl in the medic’s servo.

“The name’s Wheeljack kid, and I’ve done things that are way cooler than slaying dragons!”

 

The toddler looked Wheeljack from head to toe and gave him a blank and unimpressed stare. “Nope, nothing’s cooler than slaying a dragon. You’re not my knight, BEGONE PEASANT!” That hurt a little. Wheeljack could honestly feel Ultra Magnus smirking in the corner. Ratchet did his best to stifle a laugh. The little toddler began to survey the room, her blue eyes inspecting every individual thoroughly. When she finished she turned her attention back to the orange and white medic. “Where is Maria?” the toddler finally said after a moment.

 

“Maria? Who’s Maria?” Ratchet asked, confusion lacing his voice.

 

“Oh,” Jack piped up from where he was seated near Arcee,” she must still think she’s at her grandmother’s house.”

 

“Great-grandmother actually. Remember Maria is Jade’s grandmother.” Miko chimed as she and the other children walked toward the confused medic. “She was still asleep when she arrived so she probably doesn’t know where she is.”

 

Rafael extended a hand to the toddler as Ratchet placed her ~~reluctantly~~ gently on the ground. Helena stood close to the medic’s pedes, her icy blue gaze scrutinizing the three strangers. Jack picked up on the three-year old’s discomfort and tried his best to appear non-threatening and dropped to one knee.

“Don’t worry….Helena was it? You are in the Autobot base with your mother Jade.”

 

“My mother?” Helena shrieked. “Maria said my mother was an evil witch who’d put a curse on me if I ever saw her.”

 

“That’s ridiculous! You’re mother is a really nice person….kind of,” Miko muttered the last part under her breath but still earned a stern gaze from Jack and Rafael.

 

“Wait, so you’ve never seen your mother before?” Raf asked. The boy looked at his friends and the other Autobots with deep concern. There were a lot of holes in Jade’s story that she needed to fill.


	6. Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the first part of Loss of Bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading up to this point. This work is actually a lot darker than most other things I've written. I tend to write emotional fics, but this is the most serious of them all. If you want to check out something more light-hearted, please check out my fic "Subconscious Unleashed". It's a completed fic so you'll have 13 chapters worth of an emotional rollercoaster to go through. Don't worry though, it has a happy ending.

Megatron did not like having to deal with lesser species. Humans were primitive and lacked the processing capabilities of the average Cybertronian. Their organic fleshy bodies were prone to disease and injury; they were weak and frail and horribly intolerable. The young woman, Jade, was the first human he had met that ever displayed anything close to a brain module.  The insects Prime called his little pets had not left a good impression of their species on him. He would have been impressed by Jade, had she not made the erroneous decision to lie to his faceplates and escape with the Autobots. The young woman would pay for her mistakes, even if he had to lower himself and consult the aid of a human being. The warlord waited patiently upon his throne as a human male was escorted into the room by Shockwave. The man had cold grey eyes and a slim build. He wore a light gray turtleneck with gray slacks and a black trenchcoat. A worn fedora covered his greasy dark brown hair and his face was littered with scars.

 

“Lord Megatron, I presume?” the human called out in an all too familiar manner. “I am Snipe, your human confidant.” He bowed in a manner that awkwardly reminded Megatron of Starscream when he was trying to win the lord’s favor. He truly despised this human.

 

“Do not feign friendship with me pathetic human. I have no confidence in you nor do I see you as an equal. My species are far superior to yours, and our intellect surpasses that of you and your fellow organics.”

 

“Yet, you failed to keep a teenage girl in your grasp,”Snipe smirked as he pretended to admire his fingernails. It took every ounce of restraint to keep Megatron from crushing the human right then and there. He swore Starscream was trying mock him using a holoform.

 

“You are testing the boundaries of my patience, fleshbag,” he spat out the last word.

 

Snipe looked up from his nails with a dirty grin smeared across his face. “Forgive me Lord Megatron, I am used to dealing with lesser creatures who have a much better sense of humor than you.”

 

Megatron pulled his servo far behind his helm and swung downward. Usually, he was careful not to kill organics in such a….”hands on” manner,however, this human had no tact. Megatron had braced himself for the disgusting feeling of supple flesh smearing across his armor, but he experienced no such feeling. Actually, his servo never made contact with the organic. He looked down at his servo and watched in mistified horror as it hovered over the organic’s head, completely unable to move. “What is the meaning of this. What kind of dark energon have you been toying with human?”

 

“Ah, let me re-introduce myself. I am Snipe, short for Sniper, I’m the leader of the a gang of tech smugglers….intergalactic tech smugglers. This little trinket here,” Snipe pulled a small coin out of his pocket, “ is a device we swindled from Sector B-78 at Area 51. It prevents harm from coming to the individual that holds it by propelling an invisible forcefield around my body. I’m not just here because you  _ ordered _ me. Believe me  _ Lord Megatron, _ if I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t. You don’t scare me.” Megatron shook with fury at the jab causing Snipe to chuckle. “Trust me, I’ve killed bots a lot bigger than you…. and so has Mia. I can understand why you’d want her. She’s a very unique human, an excellent specimen to experiment on. That is why I’m here. I want to make a deal with you Lord Megatron. I tell you everything you need to know about Mia and deliver her to you, and you gift me with some of your ‘intellectually superior’ technology. Nothing big or flashy, just a gun or two. Well, what do you say?”

 

Megatron considered the human beneath his still hovering servo in disbelief. This human had the sheer gall to challenge him on his own ship, and dictated the terms of their agreement as if it were Megatron who was invited and not the other way around. It was comical. So comical, in fact, that Megatron began to chuckle audibly. Snipe faltered back, shocked by Megatron’s reaction. The warlord looked down at the human with a sigh and powered on his fusion cannon. He fired a clean shot straight at Snipe and waited for the smoke to clear. Snipe yelped when he was taken up from the ground in the deadly tight grasp of the warlord.

 

“I-I don’t understand! My forcefield y-you’re not supposed to be able to touch me!?” Snipe cried out in a betrayed manner making Megatron laugh even more.

 

“Foolish human,” he purred deviously,”you may know where this device came from on  _ your _ planet, but  _ I _ have destroyed the planet where the device originated. A surplus of energy distorts the signal that generates the gravitational field within the coin, thus rendering the device useless. I have heard your little speech human,” Megatron snarled as his faceplate took on a more lethal appearance,” now I shall make my own.” Megatron held Snipe close to his faceplate so the man could see all of the sharp long dentae that lined his intakes. “ I am Lord Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. You will tell me all I desire to know about the human named Mia and then deliver her to me. Do this, and I will consider sparing your life despite your insolent behavior. Do I make myself clear?” Megatron growled.

 

“Crystal,” Snipe choked out.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“Why have we been kept in the dark about this?” Ultra Magnus bellowed out. Jade let out a defeated sigh. She had expected the group to react negatively to the truth about her past, no…. She had expected the reaction to be terrible and it was. Everyone on team Prime was now keeping their distance from here. Bumblebee held Raf tightly against his chassis, and Bulkhead almost bolted out of the base with Jack and Miko. Ratchet refused to put down Helena as if her being too close to Jade would kill the child, which was driving Jade insane. Reliving her past was running her emotionally dry, and Ultra Magnus’ persistent questioning wasn’t making it any better.

 

“Agent Fowler and I were unaware of Jade’s past until yesterday evening. Even some the details Jade shared now, which I know must have been difficult for her to discuss, were not made known to me,” Optimus spoke as calmly as he could. He understood the gravity of the situation his team and Jade were in. Jade had confirmed his and Agent Fowler’s suspicions, she had been a part of a gang. A dangerous gang that had once been an affiliate of MECH and specialized in the sale and theft of intergalactic weaponry. She was coerced into the gang by her mother and father who were the original leaders. And Jade had killed people. A lot of people.

 

“She is a danger to our team Optimus Prime,” Ultra Magnus continued,” She has made deals with MECH, she has committed mass homicide, and she assisted the Decepticons by repairing Starscream.”

 

Jade could feel the hatred in the optics of the Autobots weighing down on her, crushing her. She watched as Bumblebee tighten his hold on Raf and Miko whisper something spiteful into Bulkhead’s audio-receptors. Jack refused to look at her. Jade tried to maintain the stoic and distant look on her face, but internally she felt like sinking into the floor and disappearing. Her past was a tough pill to swallow, even for herself. She learned how to use a gun at 9, made her first kill at 11, was initiated at 12, had successfully completed her first solo mission at 15 resulting in the death of 250 people, and had gone completely off the grid at 17 when she realized she was pregnant with Helena. She didn’t want the little girl to suffer the same fate as her and handed the child over to her grandmother. She thought her grandmother would take care of Helena, at least she did until she saw her yesterday. She was used to the world being harsh and cruel, friends liking you one minute then shooting you in the back (quite literally) the next. She had learned to tolerate the “friendliness” of the Autobots despite her upbringing, but she hadn’t expected herself to be so fragile once that kindness was taken away. Jade felt like she needed something to hold onto, something to ground her and keep her from toppling over from the weight of the Autobot’s judgement. She desperately wanted to hold her daughter Helena, but Ratchet continued to press the child to him. Maybe, it was for the better if she didn’t get attached….

 

“Your concern is noted Ultra Magnus,” Optimus said with finality, “but every sentient being is deserving of the opportunity to redeem themselves. It is in the best interest of the entire team to give Jade a chance, considering the fact that she will be staying with us for some time.”

 

“What do you mean some time?” Bulkhead asked as he shifted Miko onto his shoulder.

 

“Jade is a target for our three  biggest enemies: the Decepticons, MECH, and….,” Optimus paused as he struggled to remember the name of Jade’s former gang.

 

“GAID,” Jade filled in,”Gestalt for the Acquisition of Intergalactic Defense.”

 

“WHAT!!!!” Agent Fowler had been standing on a platform near the Prime during the entirety of the exchange. He remained quiet for most of it, despite what everyone thought he truly hated being in tense situations. He allowed Prime and Jade to take the lead while he monitored everyone’s reactions. When Jade first mentioned the name of her gang nothing had registered in his mind. It wasn’t until she said the name again that things began to click. “T-that’s your gang. I mean…. I heard you say it earlier but….I didn’t….they infiltrated Area 51!!!!”

 

“You snuck into Area 51!” surprisingly it was Jack who spoke up. He looked down at Jade with an emotion she could only call betrayal. The two had become almost friends during her stay with team Prime. Their shared annoyance with Miko’s antics, and her ability to tutor both himself and Raf in their math classes helped them get along. The news must have been hard for him, Jade thought, and we were getting so close. “ _ You _ snuck into a  _ restricted _ area, a  _ government _ facility?”

 

“W-wait a minute Jack,” Agent Fowler stuttered as he tried to compose himself. “That was years ago. At least, 1, 2,4…. 4 years ago! There’s no way that she could have infiltrated Area 51….did you?”

 

All eyes turned to Jade, who actually looked like she was sinking into the floor. She really hated this, she really hated this. She looked up at team Prime and cowered underneath their glare. Luck must have been on her side because an alarm sounded from the command module. Ratchet handed Helena to Smokescreen and rushed over from where he was standing and checked the message that appeared on the screen.

 

“It’s….from Megatron?” he gasped. All of the members of team Prime looked at Ratchet then at Jade. Even Optimus Prime couldn’t help but cast a look towards her before he returned his attention to the medic. 

 

“What does the message say Ratchet?” the orange medic opened up the file attached to the message and the silver warlord filled the command screen.

 

“My dear Optimus Prime, what a pleasure it is to speak to you this day,” the pre-recorded message began. “I hope you are enjoying your time with  _ Mia _ ,” the warlord purred her name with a growl. “You did not mishear me my dear prime,” Megatron smirked,” Jade is the name she uses to deceive those around her, she did an excellent job of deceiving my Second.” Megatron chuckled lightly to himself at the thought his Second’s failure. “No matter. I have a proposal for you Prime. I know you work closely with the human’s government and I have a…. person of interest I am willing to trade with in exchange for the one you call ‘Jade’.” Megatron turned the camera slightly to face a human man who was tied to a chair and semi-conscious. “This human calls himself Snipe-”

 

“Eat my shorts and call me Uncle Sam!” Agent Fowler exclaimed.

 

“He is the leader of GAID, the gang Jade used to be a part of, and a proud member of America’s most wanted….the classified list,” Megatron looked into the camera haughtily. “I will hand this human over to you and your affiliates in exchange for Jade, otherwise….” Megatron’s optics twinkled dangerously,”I might have to take the human up on his offer and share some of our….cybertronian technology with him. I have attached a set of coordinates to the video, meet me there in two joors….don’t disappoint me Optimus Prime.”

The video ended in white noise and the coordinates downloaded onto the command module. Before Optimus Prime could turn back to the team, he had six bots and four humans scrambling on top of him with their opinions.

 

“We can’t let GAID have our technology!”

“It’s a trap Optimus, it has to be a trap!”

“I say let the ‘Cons have her since she likes patching them up so much.”

“We can always steal her back if need be.”

“I saw we throw a coupla grenades at the slaggers and let em rip!”

“The Pentagon needs that criminal Prime!”

 

“ENOUGH!!!!” All eyes turned to Smokescreen as he walked calmly over to the crowd. He sat Helena down next to Jade who immediately leapt onto the child and pressed her close to her chest and rocked gently. The sudden display of affection made the Autobots and their human friends bashful. They suddenly remembered that they were dealing with a human girl who had been through hell and back and was now thrust back into the fire against her will. Although Jade’s past was shady, she had made the point of being open and honest with them about every aspect of it despite the pain it brought her. “I know that this is hard for all of us,” Smokescreen began, “but we can’t let Megatron win….not again.”

 

The last part of what Smokescreen stated did not allude Prime. The images of the way Megatron massacred Smokescreen’s frame still lingered in his processor. Old fury was rekindled, and the prime turned to face his team with a newfound vigor. “Smokescreen is right,” the Prime began, “Megatron has evaded us and toyed with us for too long. We are not his subjects and he is not our leader. We will not conform to his demands nor bend to his will. Megatron sealed his fate when he declared war on Cybertron, and he poured hot oil on old wounds when he attempted to snuff Smokescreen’s spark. We must work quickly and efficiently if we are to put an end to the war he started, and prevent our technology from falling into the hands of those who would do harm to this planet. Autobots, are you ready to stand behind me and face this threat?”

 

“I’m will always stand by your side,” Ratchet said as he placed on servo on Optimus’ shoulder-plate.

 

“You can count me in too Prime,” Agent Fowler perked up eager for the fight,” I’ll let the men back at base know what we’re up against. Whatever your plan is, know that America stands with you.”

 

The rest of team Prime gave similar affirmations and immediately began to plan for their departure.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The sun began to set in various tones of amber and red, the clouds were a light pink in the sky and a cool breeze drifted in the air. Jade watched Helena as she trotted alongside a small creek. Optimus Prime had given her the opportunity to play with the child before everyone moved into their positions. Helena stood ankle deep in the water as she attempted to catch small fish that skirted around her feet. Helena pouted when a fish slipped out between her small pudgy fingers. Jade couldn’t help but laugh a little at the adorable display. “I’m going to miss you so much Helena.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” Jack shifted from where he was leaning against a tree. Jade jumped a little at the sight of him, normally she was more perceptive of her surroundings.

 

“I didn’t see you there Jack, I thought you guys had stayed back at base?”

 

“Miko slipped through the ground-bridge and Raf and I followed,” the boy awkwardly put his hands in and out of his pockets. Jade knew something was burning his mind.

 

“It’s ok Jack. You can go ahead and say. Just get it off of you chest.”

 

Jade waited patiently as Jack rubbed his arm nervously and sat down on the soft grass next to her. From the time Jack made himself known until now, Jack had refused to make eye contact with Jade. He picked at the grass angrily as he struggled to find his words.

 

“I’m mad at you,” he said finally. “I feel like you lied to us and pretended to be our friends just so you could use us in the end. You were a part of an intergalactic tech gang. How do I know you weren’t spying on the Autobots for decades? If you were able to infiltrate Area 51 then you probably knew about their existence. How do I know this isn’t a trap? How do I know Arcee and the other ‘Bots aren’t going to get hurt? How can I trust you?” Jack hugged his knees to his chest and turned away slightly. He watched as Helena tried to mimic a nearby squirrel eating an acorn. She didn’t enjoy her acorn as much as the squirrel did.

 

“You know Jack,” Jade began. She too was observing the little girls antics. “There’s a reason why a wrap my hands.” Jack finally looked at Jade. Over the period of time that Jade had spent with the Autobots, Jack had grown accustomed to Jade’s wrapped hands and had completely forgotten that she wrapped them at all. Jade nervously picked at the bandages. “After my first solo mission, I couldn’t live with myself. When I was still a member, my name was Kill-Shot. I had been trained on how to use a gun from when I was little, so my role in the gang was the sniper. Take out a few government employees here and there, no big deal. At least, that’s what I told myself. If you tell yourself something for long enough you end up believing it. And to be honest, I believed it. That was…. until I had my solo mission. It was the first time I had to kill someone up close. No….multiple people. I ran out of bullets in my long range gun, so I had to switch to a spare revolver. Then….I ran out bullets in the revolver. I had a small pocket knife on me, and that pocket knife is the only reason I made it out of Area 51 alive. I had never seen a victim up close when they were dying, from far away it just looks like they’re sleeping. I didn’t know that they spasm, or writhe in pain, or that their eyes rolled back in their heads, or that they could bleed so much. I had never seen that much blood before. It coated my hands and the only thing I wanted to do was wash it away, but even after washing it away the blood stuck to my palms and fingers. I couldn’t get the image of my bloody hands out of my mind. When I held my daughter for the first time, I felt ashamed. No one with hands as dirty as mine deserved to hold something so precious. I wanted to hold her so badly but I didn’t deserve to touch her. That’s why started wrapping my hands. I can’t touch her with my bare hands. I can’t touch anyone with my bare hands. Not again.”

 

Jack stared at Jade in a state of anguish. He wanted to stay angry with her, but she was just ashamed of her past as they were. No, more so. The fact that Jade told him this was proof that she was trying to make amends for her past. She wanted a clean start for her and her daughter. Her guard was completely down. The confident and stoic mask she wore had shattered. Jade was timid and scared and lonely. How long had she been in that hangar by herself? She scratched a seam in between her bandages as if there was still blood hiding underneath her bandages

 

“Hey Jack,” Jade said shyly, “I want you to promise me something. I know I don’t deserve it but-”

 

“It’s ok Jade,” Jack placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

 

“I-if anything goes wrong today….”

 

“Nothing will go wrong, the ‘Bots will make sure of it,” the young boy replied. Jade smiled timidly, not fully convinced.

 

“If anything goes wrong. Please, find a home for Helena….a good one. I want her to be safe. Don’t let her take my last name. I don’t want anyone from the gang finding her and hurting her. And whatever you do,” Jade grabbed onto the boys shoulders with both hands. A grave expression took over her face, and Jack could see the fire burning within her gaze. “Don’t tell her anything about me. Don’t let her know I existed. It’s better that way.”

 

“I-I….n-nothing will go wrong Jade. Nothing. I promise.”

 

Everything went wrong.


	7. Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last Chapter of Part 1. I'm moving onto the next phase of Loss of Bliss after this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared if this chapter hurts your feels.

Jade was lying on the ground half conscious as the world swirled around her. The sounds of blasters and fusion cannons were muffled as she struggled to come to her senses. The past hour was a hazy blur and Jade’s head began reeling as she forced herself to remember what had happened. One minute she was standing next to Optimus Prime in an open field just as they planned. Megatron held his human captive within the tight grip of servo while Soundwave and Shockwave flanked his right and left. Jade had made her way towards the warlord solemnly then her memory faded. Someone had opened fire and the quiet forest that surrounded them turned to fire. Jade stood up on wobbly knees and looked around at the devastation. Optimus Prime and the rest of his team were still fighting the Decepticons. Optimus was paired with Megatron, Bumblebee was fought against Knockout, Ultra Magnus was struggling against Soundwave, Bulkhead was fighting a gold faced ‘con Jade had never seen before, and Arcee was…..Arcee wasn’t there. Jade began to look around frantically as she realized Arcee and Shockwave were nowhere to be seen. 

 

“Helena….?”

 

It started out as a whisper, but then turned into panicked shouting as Jade ran deeper and deeper into the burning woods. The heat of the flames grew stronger all around her, but the only thing Jade cared about at the moment was Helena. 

 

“You’re not taking her!”

 

Jade recognized Arcee voice and ran into a small clearing in the midst of the woods. The femme had her blasters out, one pointed at Shockwave and the other pointed at Starscream.

 

“Tsk tsk tsk Arcee, such a petulant femme. Can’t you see that you’re outnumbered puny Autobot?” Starscream jeered.

 

“I’m going to do a number on your faceplate if you don’t give me that kid back!”

 

Jade had to squint in order to see the small figure tucked away in Starscream’s servo. “Starscream!” Jade rushed in front of the Arcee, shocking all three of the giant robots. “Please, don’t hurt her. I’m the one you want, this has nothing to do with her.”

 

“Oh really?” Starscream said as he dropped to one knee. He hovered over Jade venomously and bared his dentae at her. Arcee edged closer to the seeker, her blasters still pinned on both mechs. “You lied to me about who you were and then you escaped with the filthy Autobots. You made me look like a fool in front of Lord Megatron!”

 

“You and Knockout were going to help me escape anyway!”

 

“You what!?” Shockwave and Arcee shouted in unisom. They looked at each other and then at the seeker. Arcee had a smug smile gracing her faceplates, however, Shockwave’s field was filled with disdain.

 

“Look, now you’ve made it worse,” Starscream’s grip tightened on the small child causing Helena to wail loudly.

 

Something within Jade snapped when she heard Helena cry. Maybe it was the increasing heat of the forest or some primal motherly instinct that had welled up inside of her, but whatever the feeling was it overtook her body and caused her to only see red. She sprinted towards the seeker and crawled up his leg, the act eliciting a high frequency shriek the other. Jade was a mechanic, she knew how to put a vehicle together and how to tear one apart. Right now, she was tearing through Starscream’s upper thigh. Any loose cable or exposed wire she found was destroyed in an instant. Starscream flailed across the ground as Jade dug deeper and deeper within his array. Arcee took the opportunity to shoot at Starscream’s elbow joint, the pain forcing him to release his grasp on the small child. Arcee dove the child but was kicked out of the way and into the surrounding flames by Shockwave. Jade darted out of Starscream’s thigh and ran towards Helena before Shockwave could reach her. She wiped away stray tears from the toddler’s cheeks and was about to run away when she realized the precarious situation she was in. Jade’s original path into the clearing had been engulfed in flames. There was no way out of the clearing except up, and the only available plane just had their leg mutilated by her. Jade looked over Shockwave and immediately knew that mech did not have a flight frame. The flames were growing larger and the air was beginning to grow dense with smoke. Jade had to make a choice.

 

“Are you Shockwave?” Jade already knew the answer, but didn’t know what else to say. She was struggling to think of a way to reason with the mech.

 

“You are trapped,” Shockwave replied as he stooped closer to the young woman. The lone red optic made Jade shudder. 

 

“Yes….we both are.”

 

“Incorrect. My frame is durable enough to withstand this heat, you have no exterior plating.”

 

“You’re right Shockwave,” Jade replied, struggling not to choke on the dense fumes. “However, that is not what I mean by both of us.” Jade gestured towards where Starscream was lying on the ground. The seeker was dipping in and out of consciousness, the pain in his leg and the increasing heat were beginning to fry his processor. “Starscream is injured and leaking energon. Based on what little I know about energon, it is extremely volatile. We are surrounded by flames.”

 

Shockwave straightened as the realization began to dawn on him. He looked down between Starscream’s writhing frame and Jade. Although the mech could not emote, Jade knew that he was completely torn concerning what he should do. The scientist could not abandon the seeker and risk his master’s wrath, and any attempt to move Starscream through the flames would result in his and the seeker’s destruction. Shockwave knew that the only logical course of action would be to request a groundbridge, however, he was also aware that he was giving Jade exactly what she wanted. 

 

<<Soundwave...>>Shockwave reluctantly opened up his comm line. << I am requesting an immediate groundbridge back to the Nemesis. Starscream is completely incapacitated.>>

 

Hope swelled inside of Jade’s heart as a bright swirl of green light appeared before her and Shockwave. The purple mech hoisted the now unconscious seeker upon his shoulders and made his way towards the bridge. Jade, eager to alleviate her daughter’s coughing, began running towards the light. She never made it towards the groundbridge. A sharp pang tore through Jade’s chest. She watched as the ground beneath her grew red with her blood. All she could hear was the high pitched wailing of her daughter as the entire world grew black.

 

End of Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. She's dead. You will learn more in Part 2


End file.
